Viaduct closure, Round 2

Updated 7:52 pm, Monday, October 24, 2011

The first evening rush hour without the Alaskan Way Viaduct was much slower Monday than morning commute, with Interstate 5 and arterials through Sodo bogging down.

The drive from Lynnwood to Seattle on I-5 took more than one hour for rush-hour commuters. Traffic spilled over onto First Avenue South and Fourth Avenue South through Sodo, where buses and cars were delayed.

Transportation officials had hoped the second round would go as smoothly as the first. While traffic on Monday morning was heavier than usual, it wasn't "carmageddon." Many car commuters apparently heeded warnings and switched to buses, trains or the King County Water Taxi.

"Drivers did a good job of adjusting their commutes, taking the bus, leaving earlier or working from home," said Matt Preedy, WSDOT's deputy administrator for the viaduct project, in a news release. "We need drivers to continue finding alternate ways to reach their destination through next Monday to keep regional traffic moving."

Officials urged drivers to take transit or water taxi Tuesday, or just to leave earlier, later or work from home.

About 110,000 vehicles used the viaduct, which was closed last Friday so crews can demolish a section of the southernmost mile and make way for a new highway and tunnel.

Monday, the congestion spread to I-405 as drivers sought ways to avoid I-5 and State Route 99.

More drivers switched to main north-south city streets to reach downtown from West Seattle or Southwest Seattle. Northbound traffic on First Avenue South at Holgate Street was up 96 percent during Monday's rush hour. Traffic was up 41 percent on Fourth Avenue South and 48 percent on Airport Way South, SDOT spokesman Rick Sheridan said.

As of 4 p.m., southbound cars and buses were already backed up on First Avenue South at Hanford Street as they headed for the lower Spokane Street bridge. The delays were worsened by trains crossing at Hanford Street.

A seattlepi.com reporter spent 55 minutes in traffic heading to the First Avenue South Bridge from Belltown via First and Fourth Avenues.

The evening commute is tougher to manage because the corridor headed out of downtown is narrower and more hampered by train crossings, transportation officials say. There also is likely to be more people leaving the office at once, and not as much staggered commuting as during the morning.

"All along, we've been saying that we were more worried about the evening commute," Metro spokeswoman Linda Thielke said. Some buses were delayed by 20 to 40 minutes, although delays were not widespread, she said.

Downtown Seattle streets, meanwhile, seemed empty of traffic and pedestrians around 4 p.m., as if workers left earlier or stayed home.

Overall, Sheridan said, "our observances were that volumes seemed lighter than usual, in terms of number of vehicles on city streets."

That's likely due to people taking the bus or riding the water taxi from West Seattle to downtown. King County Metro Transit reported buses were packed earlier than usual. Traffic on the West Seattle water taxi was three to four times heavier than normal for the early runs. Some commuters were left at the dock in West Seattle as the boat reached capacity.

Sheridan cautioned against drawing too many conclusions from an easier-than-expected commute.

"Our concern is people then return to their normal commute, taking Monday's experience as something that will hold accross the week and that may not be the case," he said.

The demolition stayed on schedule. WSDOT hoped to reopen the northbound access ramps from South Royal Brougham Way to the viaduct by 3:30 p.m. --in time for the commute home. The ramps, which WSDOT intended to keep open until 7 p.m., had to be closed because concrete debris from the demolition was falling close to the road. The Bell Street on-ramp to the viaduct remains open.

The viaduct averages about 110,000 vehicles per day. Overall, Monday's first commute without the viaduct seemed pretty smooth after 8 a.m.

Crashes early Monday on northbound and southbound Interstate 5 near the Mercer exist snarled traffic on the freeway. And the backup extended to the West Seattle Bridge, where drivers no longer had the luxury of taking the viaduct.

Commuters also reported that police are handing out tickets to drivers who are using the bus-0nly lanes on the bridge.

Seattle police later said officers issued 22 citations for bus lane violations in the bridge from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m.

The closure caused some congestion on I-405 and State Route 167. At 6 a.m., it took 60 minutes to reach Bellevue from Renton, WSDOT spokesman Travis Phelps said. Usually, peak-hour travel times are between 20 and 26 minutes, according to WSDOT's website.